For all the glitz that follows the music and fashion industry, the undeniable respect for art and painters that inspire timeless pieces, such as legendary minds like Picasso among others are enviable. Where music fails to truly convey message, arts in various forms like graffiti and mural do the talking. The art industry in respect to paintings, sculpture and animation is a multi-million dollars industry all over the world, the sooner Nigeria as a country begins to invest in this sector, the better we will grow this nation. While they are great named painters all over the world, we also have folks in that ilk here. One of those is young and hardworking Olalekan Odunbori.

His art is semi-abstract and it is under a movement called cubism. With his works, he tells stories with the infusions of African motifs, pure colours and patterns. His art is also a means of communicating to people on pressing issues we tend to neglect in the society. Also, his works are filled with message of hope, love, unity and the fact that we need to embrace our culture as a people. He has participated in a number of exhibitions here in Lagos. He is also a muralist and his dream project is to be commissioned to create a large mural in Frigiliana, Spain. His works are in private and public collections home and abroad. He lives and works in Lagos.

Olalekan hails from Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. According to him

‘As a kid, I discovered my love for drawing and ever since then, I started practicing art gradually. While growing up, I was exposed to art that was based on cultural festivals in my hometown, which Egungun festival was one of them. Then, I was fascinated by the detailing on the different paintings of masquerades done at the entrance of each household that participated in the festival. Also, the patterns on the flamboyant costumes worn by the masquerades inspired me. That passion for drawing and painting made me choose the art class in high school and I picked fine art as one of my subjects. After which I studied visual art at Yaba College of Technology, where I obtained a Higher National Diploma in Painting.

Words by Sesan Adeniji